Situation
by Meova
Summary: This is a sequel to Broken, a previous story of mine. Holly's daughter Diane disappears to Fowl Manor, and Holly has to see Artemis for the first time since he kidnapped her. How will she deal with it?


**A/N: This is a sequel to Broken. Look, I know most people didn't like Broken. However, this story is nothing like it. So if you expect someone else cuffed to a bed, you're going to be dissappointed. Sorry. Anyway, if you do want to read it, please R&R. And no flames, please, I've had enough of them on Broken to keep my home warm for a long time.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Artemis Fowl, only in my dreams.**

'Mom, where's Dad?' Diane asked while tugging Holly's shirt. Holly sighed.

'Dad is on the surface,' she replied, not quite managing to keep the annoyance out her voice. This was a question which returned regularly.

'Will I ever meet him?' Diane looked pleadingly at Holly. She was 14 now. Holly sometimes couldn't believe she hadn't seen Artemis in such a long time. She still missed him... Usually more when Diane looked at her. She had his blue eyes.

'Probably not. Why do you want to meet him anyway?'

'Because he's my dad, isn't that enough reason?' Diane still looked at Holly with puppy eyes, she knew Holly couldn't resist them. Holly wished she could let Diane meet him... but she knew Artemis would never see her, not if it was up to her. So she pulled her shirt out of Diane's hands, and went on with cleaning the house.

'You know you'll never meet him. I gave you a picture of him, isn't that enough? Now, go do your homework.' Diane pouted, but returned to her books.

In her bedroom, after she'd locked the door, Holly lifted her mattress. She searched under it, until she found Artemis' photo. On the photo, he was 18. He'd taken it only days before he had kidnapped her again. By now, he was 32, but she hadn't seen that many pictures of him beside the one under her mattress. Only the ones she came across accidentally, but you couldn't exactly miss pictures of the richest person in the world if you read magazines from the surface. Even less if he was one of the world's hottest people, according to the Cosmo. Everytime she looked at one of his pictures, she thought he could see her, with his piercing blue eyes. They always made her want to hide. When Diane knocked on her door, she snapped out of her trance, realising she was crying. She wiped the tears from her face, trying to keep her voice under control when she asked: 'What's wrong?'

'I'm having trouble with my history. Can you help me, mom?'

History. She was part of history, with the Fowl siege. Holly hoped it wasn't about that.

'Sure, honey. Go back to your room, and I'll be with you in a second.'

'And, mom? Today, it's pocket money day.' She sounded like a small child. As if she almost had something in her reach. Holly couldn't put her finger on it.

'You'll get it after you've finished your History.' And after I've figured out what you want to do with your pocket money, she thought after it.

As she had feared, Diane's homework was about the Fowl siege. Diane knew Holly had been part of it. She had to make a report about it, and what the LEP could've done better, according to her. Holly quickly thought of what she could and what she couldn't say. There wasn't much she could say without crying, so she settled for saying all the things she could, and then calling Foaly for help. She gave Diane her pocket money after Foaly had left. Diane smiled mysteriously, and went to her room.

'Diane?' Holly called after her.

'Yes, mom?' She sounded normal... But she had inherited Artemis' lying abilities.

'What are you going to do with your money?' Holly asked, aware of every small change in her daughter's face and voice.

'You know, the usual. Buy clothes, candy, magazines. The usual.' She couldn't detect one change. Diane must be telling the truth, she concluded.

'Okay. Sorry for bothering you.'

'It's okay, mom.' Diane went in her room, and came out again almost immediately, wallet in her hand. 'I'm going to do some shopping with Anja and Maria, okay?'

'Sure. Be back before dark, though,' Holly couldn't resist to add.

'I'll make sure I'm back. See you!' She waved and ran off.

'Bye,' Holly said a few minutes later, already lost in thoughts.

Darkness had fallen, and Diane still wasn't back. Holly grew more and more worried by the minute. Previously, she would've called Artemis for comfort, but that was now impossible, how badly she might want it. So she called Foaly.

'Foaly? Have you seen Diane?' she asked. Her voice almost broke.

'Yeah, just this afternoon, when I was helping her with her homework. You know I did, you asked me to do it. Why?' He didn't sound too worried, he sounded more busy. Probably with another one of his inventions.

'I mean after that. She went out to shop, but she hasn't returned yet.' She sounded really worried now.

'No, I haven't seen her. Did she go shopping alone or with someone else?' Now he gave her his full attention.

'She went with Anja and Maria. I'll try to contact them, I might have their numbers.' This would involve a big breach of privacy – Holly knew their numbers were in Diane's agenda.

'Call them first, and then call me back. If I see her, I'll send her right over, okay?' Foaly promised.

'That's okay. Bye.' She was already walking up the stairs. It took her some time to find Diane's agenda. You wouldn't believe the mess in her room! Even when she'd spotted it, it took her some time to actually get it. She found Anja's number and dialled it.

'Anja.'

'Hi, Anja, it's Holly, Diane's mother. Is she at your place?' This time, she managed to keep the worry out of her voice.

'No, she isn't. Why?'

'Well, she said she'd go shopping with you, but I haven't seen her since she left.'

'She didn't go shopping with me.' Anja sounded surprised. Holly was shocked. Diane lied? She never lied. At least not to her.

'Are you sure?'

'Positive. Listen, maybe you can try Maria.' She was really trying to help.

'Okay, I'll do that. Should I call you back when I've found her?' Trying to be nice to your daughter's friends usually helps with gaining their trust.

'Sure. I'll talk to you later then!' She sounded relieved.

'Bye.'

The conversation with Maria went almost the same. Holly was starting to get really worried now. She called Foaly back.

'She didn't go shopping. Where can she be?' Holly was almost panicking.

'Calm down, Holly, I'm sure she's fine,' Foaly said, trying to soothe her. It didn't work.

'Oh no.' A few memories clicked. Diane asking about Artemis, and then the mysterious smile... 'She's going to see Artemis!'

'Artemis? Why would she want to see the devil in person?' Foaly'd had a strong hatred for Artemis since he had kidnapped Holly for the second time. She could picture Foaly fuming over this news.

'She wants to see her father. It's natural. Plus, I never told her the situation in which I had her.' And for good reason, Holly thought.

'You did good, I wouldn't have told her either. But how are we supposed to find her now? Does she even know where Artemis lives?' Foaly sounded worried now, too. Undoubtedly he was thinking about what Artemis would do with Diane.

'Remember the project Diane was working on?' Holly reminded Foaly. 'That's probably how she knows. I dare to bet Artemis hasn't moved.' She was so sure about that...

'There's only one way to find out. I'll check the computer to see if she bought a ticket, and if she did, we're going to Ireland.'

Of course Diane had bought a ticket to Tara. Holly had known it. Call it maternal instincts, or whatever you like. Diane had been gone for a long time already before Foaly and Holly could go after her. Holly could only hope she didn't find Fowl Manor. But how big was that chance? You could see it from miles away. They got on the first shuttle available. Luckily there still were free seats, they couldn't kick someone off and Holly would've freaked if she'd had to wait.

In the shuttle, Foaly slept, but Holly couldn't. Every year, during the time Artemis had kidnapped her, she couldn't sleep properly. If she did, her dreams were full of him, but instead of giving comfort, they only made her long for him more. And when she wakes up from them, she sometimes cried because she wasn't cuffed to his bed. How sick is that? Even though he had kidnapped her, raped her, abused her, hurted her, she still longed for him. Never question true love, she thought to herself. She knew what she gave up when she escaped. But until today, she still wondered whether she made the right decision...

Fowl Manor. She hadn't seen it for 14 years, yet she found that it looked familiar. She shuddered at the thought that she would see Artemis again after all those years. How much would he have changed? Did he still think of her, like she thought of him, all the time? She had to shut her feelings down, not leave a trace, otherwise she knew she couldn't do this. So she suppressed them, like she had done so many times before. Still her heart raced when they approached Fowl Manor. Foaly rang the bell, and Butler opened. His hair was streaked with grey, his face was full of wrinkles, but beside that, he was the same Butler they had worked together with to save the world multiple times.

'Holly?' He sounded surprised. No wonder. He hadn't seen her for a long time. He didn't even know she had been here, for those 5 months of being Artemis' property. She couldn't not admire him for keeping it a secret for so long...

'Yes, it's me. Long time, no see.' She had no time for pleasant chit-chat, so when Butler opened his mouth again to say something, she cut across him. 'Have you seen Diane?'

'Who?'

Holly showed him a picture of her daughter.

'Yeah, I have seen her. She is in the study, with Artemis. Holly, are you okay?' She had paled. Was Diane really in the study, or had Artemis cuffed her to a bed now, too, unwilling to let her go? Foaly took over.

'Can we see her? We have to let her know she's grounded for the rest of her life.' He looked at Holly.

'Sure, come in.' Butler stepped aside, and leaded them to the study, where Holly heard Diane's bright voice talking. She walked into the room.

Artemis first wasn't sure. Was he dreaming? She could see it in his face. After all these years, he still was an open book for her. She kept her face carefully blank, knowing that she was an open book for him too. Diane stayed in her chair, face down. Holly first addressed her.

'You're in big trouble, lady. Next time you disappear, I'm chaining you to the house until you're 21.'

'Mom!' It was more an automatic response than a real disagreeal. She knew she'd earned it.

'I'm not joking. Come on, we're going home.' Holly didn't look at Artemis, only at Diane. Artemis stepped next to Diane, and Holly couldn't help but notice the similarities. Diane had his eyes, of course, but her hair was as stubborn as his, and her skin never tanned, staying stubbornly white, no matter how long she was in the sun. Artemis still was white as a vampire, too. He hadn't changed much in the time she hadn't seen him. She felt butterflies fluttering in her stomach again, and ignored them as well as she could. Then he spoke, and she knew she'd lost.

'Holly. It's been too long.' She heard the pain in his voice. He couldn't look at her, he knew it was his fault. Foaly told him so.

'It's your fault, not hers. Get over it.'

The pain flashed through Artemis' eyes now. Holly still couldn't stand seeing it. She forced herself to think about what he had done to her, but she could only remember the good times they had.

'What did you talk about?' Foaly demanded in a harsh tone.

'She asked me why Holly left me, and I told her the story.' He looked to the floor. Foaly almost combusted.

'You did what? How could you! Holly kept that from her for a good reason!' He stamped his hooves on the ground.

'She is old enough to know what I did,' Artemis replied in a calm voice. His mask was up, Holly couldn't see anything anymore. She held Diane by her upper arm, for comfort just as much as to keep her from going to Artemis again.

'Mom, you were right. Dad is a monster,' Diane told her. Holly couldn't agree, nor disagree. What was she doing here anyway? She should've stayed away, should've kept Artemis as only a memory. They were all staring at her now, waiting until she'd say something, but she couldn't. She turned around and walked out of the room, leaving the rest there, stunned. She walked through the house, looking for something, but not knowing what until she found it. She sat down on the all too familiar bed, where she had spend 5 months on. Tears streamed down her face, and she smothered the screams in the pillow. She didn't notice Artemis coming in the room until she felt his hand stroking her hair. The memories came back, after years of suppressing them, and she cried until she had re-lived them all, until she had come to terms with the fact she still loved Artemis.

He knew he shouldn't say a word, so he kept quiet. She knew him all too well, as well as he knew her through and through. When she sat up, he stood up, intending to walk out of the room. She called him back, with a soft voice.

'Artemis.'

He didn't sit back down, but stayed on his feet. He still looked to the floor. He hadn't looked at her once, not once all the time she had been in Fowl Manor.

'Yes?' he asked carefully.

'She is your daughter.' She felt obliged to tell him. She wanted to keep on crying, but she wasn't sure whether she had any tears left. It didn't feel like it.

'I know,' he said.

'She looks so much like you.'

'I know.'

He sat down, and they both sat there on the bed, in silence.

After a while, Artemis dared to speak.

'Did you ever forgive me?' He didn't dare to hope she had.

'I did... But don't ask me how, or when.' The words weren't right, she knew, but she didn't know how to rephrase it. 'How did you react to my escape?' It had been bothering her ever since she was back in Haven. She kept on looking at her hands, holding each other in her lap.

'I freaked. I was so mad at myself... But after I had had my fit, I understood why you went. I would've done it, too, if the roles had been reversed.'

'I'm so sorry, Artemis...' She saw, from the corner of her eye, that he was looking at her now.

'What are you sorry for?' He moved closer to her. She let him.

'For never forgetting you. For letting you kidnap me. For loving you...' Holly blushed, and stood up. She wanted to go away, she never intended to make that confession. Artemis grabbed her hand.

'There's no need to be sorry for that. I am sorry for kidnapping you. I shouldn't have done that... I wasn't myself, how lame that may sound.' He pulled her back on the bed, letting go of her hand immediately.

'Did you ever...' He understood what she wanted to ask.

'No. Not even while a bunch of fan girls stand in front of Fowl Manor everyday, wanting to marry me. You?' He smiled, glad to hear Holly giggle. She had to, she found the image of the fan girls, waiting for Artemis, strangely amusing.

'No. Me neither. I couldn't. Trouble did try to...' Her voice went still when the memory surfaced of Trouble, throwing a fit because she couldn't love him back. Artemis nodded.

'I know Trouble wanted you. I could see the jealousy.'

'So we waited... for what?' Holly looked for the first time at Artemis. Her breathing stopped when she saw his flaming blue eyes. She had forgotten what effect he had on her.

'We waited for each other.' He kept looking in her eyes, couldn't pull away, just like her. He reached for her hand, but stopped midway.

'You know we can never be together.' She couldn't look away, she was captivated. If he would cuff her to the bed again, would she fight? She wasn't sure.

'I also know it's our fate.' Artemis blinked, and the spell was over. They quickly looked away, uncomfortable with the situation.

It's like Diane and Foaly knew they needed some time together. Or Diane was hearing the other side of the story from Foaly. The searches, how Holly had come back with Diane in her arms, a complete wreck... Holly's body had made a decision before her head even knew what to choose from. Artemis had the same problem. He grabbed her hand, and she let herself fall backwards on the bed, pulling him along with her. She was older now, just like him. It was the first time since 14 years for both of them. He kissed her, and it was exactly like she remembered. She thought of the time he had made a deal with her, a kiss for a glass of water. She had been so thirsty she would've done anything for it. But she also remembered how he could be, rough, demanding and cold. This time, so unlike the last, it was completely different.

The situation was even more awkward now. After the time they'd spend in her old prison, and the things discussed and done there, they had had to return to Foaly, Diane and Butler. Everyone had felt the strange atmosphere, and the three visitors left quickly after. Holly looked back, and wasn't surprised to find Artemis looking at them from his window. Tears threatened to stream again, again she wasn't sure when she would see him again. She did know they'd always be waiting for each other. The whole way home, she thought about him, letting memories surface she could never have handled before. At home, Diane asked her if she had to see Artemis again. Holly replied that she didn't have to if she didn't want to. Diane looked relieved, she had taken an immediate dislike of Artemis, even though he was her father. She disappeared to her room, undoubtedly writing the whole story in her diary.

About a month afterwards, Holly was cleaning the house again. It had to be done sometime, doesn't matter how much Holly hated it. Artemis had tried to contact her once every week, but she had never picked up the phone or returned a letter. She knew she was hurting him with this, but she needed some time to think. She was in her sleeping room now, cleaning under the bed. She spotted the picture of Artemis, and lifted the mattress to look at it properly. She missed him, even though she wouldn't confess that to anyone. Her phone rang. Her instinct said it was Artemis, again. What should she do? Holly knew she had forgiven Artemis a long time ago for what he had done to her. After all, he had given her Diane... The phone kept ringing. Holly still didn't know what to do. Should she keep him out of her life? She knew she couldn't do that, not anymore. Diane and her friends would be against it... However, it was her life. The phone still rang. She picked up.

'Hello?'


End file.
